Lisle's Work on the Board of Aldermen: Alderman Lisle Baker, Newton, Massachusetts

Alderman Lisle Baker was chosen to be the President of the Board for the 2008 - 2009 term, having been previously chosen as President for the previous 2004 - 2005 and 2006 - 2007 terms of the Board of Aldermen.

The President presides over Board meetings, appoints committees and their leadership, and serves as Acting Mayor when the Mayor is away from the City.

Since he became President in 2004, Lisle has prepared a summary of the work of the Board for the preceding year, focusing on the committees and their leadership. Read Lisle's 2009 President's Report (PDF file, opens in new window).

Some of Lisle's special work on the Board has involved:

Part of Lisle's work has been communicating with citizens. For example, NewTV gave its 2009 award for Producer of the Year to Lisle, president of the Board of Aldermen, for his 29 segments of 'Aldermen at Work', broadcast on the government channel of NewTV. The series involves his interviews as Board president with colleagues on the Board and from other aspects of Newton government to help make the work of the Board and those who advise it more understandable to Newton Citizens.

In 2009, Lisle is completing his 26th year of service on the Board of Aldermen as the Ward Alderman for Ward 7. Lisle currently serves as a member of the Zoning and Planning Committee, where he has worked to strengthen and simplify Newton's zoning ordinances, and as a member of the Programs and Services Committee, which has jurisdiction on such matters as Schools, Recreation, and the Library. Lisle also sits on the Aldermanic Real Property Reuse Committee, which focuses on disposition of surplus City buildings or land, and the Special Committee on Long Range Planning, which Lisle appointed when he first became Board president.

Over the years, he has worked on many problems, whether it's keeping cars off the street and out of the neighborhoods on BC football game days through special football parking restrictions, or saving open space from development, as when he used a betterment assessment on abutting properties to help the City buy self-supporting Newton Commonwealth Golf Course, helping fund the preservation of the Historic Durant Kenrick Homestead, or advocating for needed funding and improvements in our public schools.

Also, as a ward alderman, Lisle also is active in constituent service, responding to citizens with specific concerns, whether it is a broken street light, a stop sign for a crosswalk, or even getting a manhole cover adjusted so a resident can sleep better at night.

Lisle's Work On the Board of Aldermen